Pre-season scores mean nothing. How much teams win by with a scrub lineup is absolutely no indicator of regular or post season success. I mean seriously, Dooling, Bogans and Deiner aren't going to beat anyone night in and night out...

The preseason you get a glimpse of what talents the players have, how well conditioned they are, and particularly this year, how they have adjusted to shooting the new ball.

Do you want Darko to do well against the Pistons... what if he hits the game winner... is that a good thing?

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Hi, merc, yes, I do want Darko to do well against the Pistons. I guess it is partially because it would vindicate my support for him from the very beginning. I would like to see him drop 25 and have a triple double, but that does not necessarily mean that I want the Magic to beat the Pistons. That would depend on several factors, like who is needing a game to move into or stay in first place in their division. Which team needs the game more at that particular time, etc.

The Pistons have been my team since shortly after they moved up from Fort Wayne, and when the Cincinnati Royals left Cinti. I moved up from Dayton, Ohio and had followed the Royals and Oscar, Jerry, etc for many years. Things change and we move along.

I would have to think about whether I would like to see Darko hit the game-winner, and I would probably love to see it, unless it maybe put the Pistons out of something important. If it was the ECFs, man that would be something.

A big part of the reason I wanted DMC to succeed right from the beginning was that it helped set up the Pistons for a very long dynasty. If he was allowed to progress there was in my mind every chance that the transition from Ben's team to Darko's team would have been seamless. Ben just moved to the backup position and DMC moves into the starting linup, at SOMETIME in the future. And when, as it seemed to me the Pistons let him down, he became somewhat of a cause celebre to me and his doing very well in the future would justify my thinking.

It's a hard decision in my mind. It is like when we moved to MI from Ohio, I had been a tremendous fan of Frank Robinson. I had met him and he even left tickets for me when I was traveling on business and was in a town he was playing in. I called the club and left my name and he left tickets for me.

When the Reds decided to not pay him what he was worth and traded him to Baltimore, I rooted for him. When they played the Tigers, I wanted Robby to do extremely well but the Tigers, my new team, to win.

My, what a long, boring diatribe, but you asked me a question that I could not answer quickly.

Its unfortunate Isiah bailed them out by taking Francis. His contract would have severly limited the Magic. They got pretty lucky. Traded T-mac for Francis and then were able to dump his contract when they found out the type of player he was. Then they draft Howard with the #2 and he actually plays like a #2 is supposed to.

Their string of luck has to run out. Seems like a lot of people are high on them based on the winning streak last year. It was a good streak but can that sort of thing carry over into a new season? Which team are they, the one before the streak or after? Or something inbetween?

Its unfortunate Isiah bailed them out by taking Francis. His contract would have severly limited the Magic. They got pretty lucky. Traded T-mac for Francis and then were able to dump his contract when they found out the type of player he was. Then they draft Howard with the #2 and he actually plays like a #2 is supposed to.

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Warning: Tinfoil Hat post, the Walt Disney-LB Conspiracy

It all makes sense now, LB has been on the Orlando payroll for the past two seasons. LB purposely destroyed Darko's confidence so Joe would have to trade him, and of course the Magic pick him up, and LB "coincidently" tells Isaiah that he needs Stevie Franchise to play next Marbury. It wouldn't suprise me if G Hill is healthy this season because he's using LB's chiropractor.

Prediction: Orlando 5th seed at worse. D Ho will have a monster season. Jameer is capable. G Hill is only in his early 30's, and supposedly healthy. Darko/Battie will be the Pippen to Dwight's Jordan. And anything they get from Turk and Reddick will be icing. Only weakness on the team, none of their guards can play D. Which will hurt them in the playoffs, but draft order is decided by reg season.

It's a hard decision in my mind. It is like when we moved to MI from Ohio, I had been a tremendous fan of Frank Robinson. I had met him and he even left tickets for me when I was traveling on business and was in a town he was playing in. I called the club and left my name and he left tickets for me.

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Small world Lazy... I got to know Frank Robinson when he was a player for the San Juan, P.R. team... My best friend was the batboy... we used to go in the dugout after games... also on this team was Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez (all HOFers)... Perez and Cepeda gave us private lessons in the park that year.... I didn't realize how big this was until a few years later.... stupid kid, I got a signed ball from several of the players and we just played ball with it. lol

Merc, that would have been great to be in your shoes. I once was introduced to Cepeda and knew Tony Perez to speak with, and I didn't remember that Frank played in PR. I met Pete Rose several times as our church had him up from Cinti at times to give awards and have special days to give the kids tips on baseball.

That signed baseball would be worth some money now, and even more in the future. I have a Ted Williams signed baseball, and one from Hank Aaron.

We have things that make our lives more interesting, and gives us things to tell our grandkids, and in my case, great grandkids. Fun!!

I have a feeling that the Magic may just be a less tragic version of Golden State last year. Late season domination can be fool's gold for fans.

Lets break down the eastern conference. First the teams I think that are obviously better than the Magic:

Cleveland, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, New Jersey

Then you have the teams that are just looking fore steady improvement. Also, teams that didn't really lose a vital piece to their puzzle, so you wouldn't initially expect them to take a big step back.

Washington, Indiana, Milwaukee

I'm being generous with the Milwaukee selection since Bogut is injured, but he'll be back soon enough and I think the Villanueva trade was a big plus for them.

So that is eight teams already. Now we can look at the teams that are obviously inferior to the Magic.

Atlanta, Charolette

So, the Magic can reasonable expect to fall in the 9-13 range, maybe even better if they are legit. But if you look at the other teams in that range they all have the same unbridled (and perhaps irrational) optimism that Orlando has.

Orlando, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, New York.

You could expect Philly to get better because they woefully underperformed last year, even by their own meager standards.

Then you have New York who has a deep roster of putridly expensive mediocrity.

Boston is expecting a bounce back year with the addition of "legitimate" point guards and the hopeful official breakout of Perkins and Jefferson. Also, if they trade for Boozer as has been rumored I think they jump into the 6-8 range in the East.

And Toronto has a capable #1 pick, plus a wizard of a GM who is going to turn his team into a poor man's Suns, which in the East could actually be enough to sneak into the playoffs.

So really, you can't be surprised if they finish 7 in the conference or 13. Its a wide open league, and I don't see reasons to be TOO pessimistic.

So really, you can't be surprised if they finish 7 in the conference or 13. Its a wide open league, and I don't see reasons to be TOO pessimistic.

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Like your assessment of the EC and agree with most of it.

I'd be surprised if Orl finishes ahead of Philly, Boston or New York. But Dwight Howard is a bonifide-legit MONSTER, for real. Yet I'm thinking he's maybe 1 year away from being capable of carrying that team consistently.

Philly, Toronto(?) and/or Boston may be lookin at the next draft. 9-13 sounds bout right.

If anyone else watched the Magic game, please back me up on this. Dwight Howard looked like a young Shaq. He would rip an offensive rebound down in a crowd. The next thing you know he would spring up and tomahawk jam like it was a fast break. He must have had 7 hard dunks in the first half alone.

On one occasion, he had to use his off arm to shield his head from the rim and backboard as he blocked a shot out of bounds.

Darko didn't do much stats-wise, but he was being a facilitator. He looked like his primary role was to try to create space by posting up and defend the high pick and roll. He didn't take a single jump shot or even look for it, which is very unusual for him.

Until I see something else to convince me, I don't see why Chicago and Orlando are not going to finish in the top 3 in the East. Both look tougher than Detroit on the inside and both have good point guards.

I know its way too early to predict but things are not looking too good. Orlando is second in the conference right now and I think they have a very good shot at solidifying it because Darko is getting some major pt. Even if he improves some, that will help their chances of holding onto the #2 seed.

I know its way too early to predict but things are not looking too good. Orlando is second in the conference right now and I think they have a very good shot at solidifying it because Darko is getting some major pt. Even if he improves some, that will help their chances of holding onto the #2 seed.

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Buckeyes, do you still think that Orlando will hold on to the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference?

Actually, the Magic are only 2 games from being one of the 10 worst teams in the league. A top ten draft pick would certainly be nice. Orlando is 5-15 in its last 20 games. The Piston draft pick is looking better and better and better....

What does Pythagoras have to do with this? Was he into BBall at some point.
Ax2 + Bx2 = Cx2 in a right triangle
For back then that was a strong call by NCPC. Maybe he knew GHill couldn't last a season.